mock prompts

Question 1

Supernatural ageing

Answer 1

Dracula consumes blood to reverse the ageing process similarly to the portrait preventing Dorian from ageing

Question 2

Humanisation of Dracula

Answer 2

Dracula becomes not simply a creature of fathomless evil. Rather, he is a somewhat sympathetic and more human creation, determined to regain his family’s lost power and subject the world to his own dark, brutal vision.

Question 3

Dracula as the anti-Christ

Answer 3

Dracula is a perversion of everything that Christianity stands for. Dracula acting as the driver parting the wolves = perversion of Moses parting the Red Sea and Dracula drinking blood = perversion of Christians drinking wine symbolising the blood of Christ. Dracula is the figurative anti-Christ who promises eternal life through the ingestion, not of sacramental wine representing the blood of Christ, but of actual human blood.

Question 4

Blood

Answer 4

Lack of scientific understanding meant that it was believed that STDs were transmitted through blood. Stoker used the concept of vampirism to prey on these contemporary fears.

Question 5

Historical allusion

Answer 5

Dracula is supposed to be a descendant of Vlad the Impaler. This historical allusion gives Dracula a semblance of truth, and, as the Author’s Note and the coda make clear, Stoker wants to suggest that the documents assembled in the novel are real.

Question 6

Colonialism/imperialism

Answer 6

Stoker used Dracula to prey on contemporary fears such as the decline of britain as a world power. This decline led to a loss in confidence of the british hegemony and the decay of british influence. The novel centralises around reverse colonialism, which is a primitive force colonising a civilised one. This allows britain to see its violent imperialism from another perspective. This stems from contemporary fears that the empire decline would create a vacuum for another invading force. This idea is also explored by H.G. Wells in The War of the Worlds. This subverts expectations, as the exploiter becomes the exploiter. Perhaps Stoker explored this as a response to cultural guilt or to criticise imperialist ideologies?

Question 7

Female sexuality - Mina

Answer 7

Mina’s sexuality remains enigmatic throughout the whole of Dracula. Though she marries, she never gives voice to anything resembling a sexual desire or impulse, which enables her to retain her purity. Indeed, the entire second half of the novel concerns the issue of Mina’s purity. Stoker creates suspense about whether Mina, like Lucy, will be lost.

Question 8

Motif of three

Answer 8

The motif of three (suitors) is used to create a link between Lucy and the three vampire sisters, associating her with promiscuity and foreshadowing her fate as a vampire. Additionally Dracula visits Mina three times, associating the number with evil and lust.

Question 9

Females letters

Answer 9

Difference in structure between Mina and Lucy’s letters: Lucy’s letters are less structured and more chaotic, focus on her suitors

Question 10

Xenophobia - Van Helsing

Answer 10

Professor Van Helsing is an experienced, competent man, but due to the unskilled manner in which Stoker renders Van Helsing’s speech, he often comes across as somewhat bumbling.

Question 11

Quincy

Answer 11

Morris’s outsider viewpoint is seen within the structure of the book, as he remains the only character to not keep a written record, aside from Dracula himself. His youthful, brash personality and willingness to accept what must be done to stop Dracula offer a refreshing contrast to the nobility of aristocrats and doctors. He is the least refined character, the most impulsive and quickest to act, leading to him sacrificing himself to save the others

Question 12

Dracula love

Answer 12

Jonathan and Mina’s love is strong enough to transcend distance, but Arthur’s love is not strong enough to save Lucy.

Question 13

Purpose of Renfield

Answer 13

He is tormented by the clash between his humanity and his warped devotion to his master (Dracula). His character acts as a cautionary tale warning against the quest for immortality. Driven by the promise of endless creatures and insects to eat, Renfield is convinced that single-minded devotion will bring him a glorious everlasting life. Instead, he finds death at his master’s hands. The tragedy of Renfield enables him to serve as a foil to Dracula, exposing the doomed shadow side to the seductive allure of the vampire.

Question 14

Modernisation of gothic locations in Dracula

Answer 14

Gothic fiction traditionally includes elements such as gloomy castles, sublime landscapes, and innocent maidens threatened by ineffable evil. Stoker modernizes this tradition in his novel, however, moving from the conventional setting of Dracula’s ruined castle into the bustle of modern England. As Stoker portrays the collision of two disparate worlds—the count’s ancient Transylvania and the protagonist’s modern London—he lays bare many of the anxieties that characterized his age: the repercussions of scientific advancement, the consequences of abandoning traditional beliefs, and the dangers of female sexuality.

Question 15

Xenophobia

Answer 15

People had become concerned about globalisation and the deterioration of the British Empire. Dracula drinking blood and being compared to a leech reflects fears of foreigners “leeching” British resources and women

Question 16

Xenophobia Stoker

Answer 16

Stoker was an Irish man who moved to London and experienced feeling like an outsider (and otherness) and Xenophobia himself. This is partially due to Anglo-Irish relations at the time. The Great Famine took place in the 1850s and impacted Stoker’s family

Question 17

Angel in the house

Answer 17

Women were expected to fulfil the role of the ‘The Angel in the House’ - a wife and a mother who was selflessly devoted to her children and submissive to her husband. ‘The Angel in the House’ was a narrative poem by Coventry Patmore, published in 1854 and was later criticised by feminist writers such as Virginia Woolf. The term ‘New Woman’ was the antithesis to ‘The Angel in the House’

Question 18

Dorian as a superior being

Answer 18

Dorian is presented as an ideal, rather than a human with flaws: he is the archetype of youth and beauty. Basil’s idolisation of Dorian inevitably leads to Dorian’s downfall, as he elevates him to a standard that is impossible to meet. This, along with Dorian’s own insecurities, are what leads to the loss of his soul.

Question 19

Influence

Answer 19

Dorian seems punished by his ability to be influenced. In his teachings, Lord Henry declares that the new social order celebrates individualism. Therefore, Dorian falters because he fails to establish and live by his own moral code.

Question 20

Duality of Dorian by others

Answer 20

Both Lord Henry and Basil ‘recreate’ Dorian, either physically (through the portrait) or idealistically (through their expectations)

Question 21

Lord Henry’s teachings

Answer 21

Lord Henry’s theories are radical; they aim to shock and purposefully attempt to topple established, untested, or conventional notions of truth. In the end, however, they prove naïve, and Lord Henry himself fails to realize the implications of most of what he says. His teachings change from radical and enticing to become shallow and improbable.

Question 22

Artless

Answer 22

James is the most artless character in the novel. He dislikes that Sibyl is an actress, on display for others. In addition, he also hates all falsehoods. He won’t pretend to be happy for Sibyl and voices his fear of her relationship with Dorian. He forces his mother to tell him the truth about his father. He initiates all of these uncomfortable conversations without cushioning or sugarcoating what he wants to say. With his complete lack of artifice, his brotherly love for Sibyl is one of the most genuine instances of love in the novel, based in care, concern. Even his desire to kill Dorian to avenge Sibyl has a kind of earnestness to it, as demonstrated by his horror at the thought of accidentally killing the wrong man

Question 23

The Vane family

Answer 23

Each member of the Vane family represents the damage done to the lower classes at the careless hands of wealthy people: Mrs. Vane is impregnated and abandoned by a gentleman lover; Sibyl Vane commits suicide after being heartbroken by the fickle Dorian; and James Vane’s accidental death is brushed aside by his posh killers as bothersome rather than tragic.

Question 24

Alan Campbell

Answer 24

Wilde creates ambiguity around what exactly occurred between Alan and Dorian to destroy their friendship and again about what secret Dorian intends to use to blackmail him. Because of the parallel with Dorian’s relationship with Lord Henry, it’s easy to assume both the friendship-ending incident and the blackmail may be sexually charged. The relationship parallels force us to compare Dorian to Lord Henry, further emphasizing that Dorian’s corruption has gone far beyond what Lord Henry could envision.

Question 25

Dorian’s companions

Answer 25

While Dorian’s supernatural health and beauty allow him to indulge in the worst of vices, both physical and social, without consequence, his companions cannot escape the repercussions of partaking in Dorian’s sinful lifestyle. Many of Dorian’s associates meet untimely ends through suicide, such as Sibyl Vane and Alan Campbell, while others destroy their reputations and are stripped of their privileges.

Question 26

Cell theory

Answer 26

Cell theory wasn’t developed until the 1940s. This is only when cell division and metabolism began to be understood. Therefore, in the novel, art compensated for the limits of biology and allows the possibility of immortality.

Question 27

Slavery

Answer 27

Slavery was abolished in the South in 1865 which led to the decline of families like the Dubois.

Question 28

Marxism

Answer 28

Through a Marxist lens, Stanley could symbolise the reigning champion of the working class who defeats the old aristocratic ways by removing Blanche (the symbol of the bourgeois) and moving on with his wife and newborn son (symbolic of the hope in his future)

Question 29

American dream

Answer 29

Stanley represented the ideal of American dream. After WWII, a sense of American heroism developed and a national spotlight was shone on working class men like Stanley who had rejoined the peacetime and were seen as symbols of American hard working spirit

Question 30

Stanley as the hero

Answer 30

Some contemporary audiences viewed Stanley as the victim of Blanche’s madness and attack on his masculinity. The rape scene has been justified as event initiated by Blanche through her flirting and exhibitionism. Some contemporary audiences were reported to have cheered during the rape scene.

Question 31

Plastic theatre

Answer 31

Williams use of plastic theatre is particularly noticeable through Stanley’s character as stage directions, sound and dialogue are used to present him as primitive and instinctually driven.

Question 32

Male future

Answer 32

Stella has a son which represents how she cannot escape masculinity and the baby represents Kowalski future, not DuBois

Question 33

Women in WWII

Answer 33

During WWII, the percentage of women in the national workforce rose from 27 to 37%, but after the war ended, they were forced back into domestic roles. Stella’s character symbolises trapped woman in domestic roles.

Question 34

Morality in ASND

Answer 34

The play can be understood as a critique of conventional notions of morality, as sexual standards are hypocritical. Blanche is ostracised for multiple lovers whereas Stanley gets away with domestic abuse and rape.

Question 35

Criticisms of ASND

Answer 35

When the play was first performed on Broadway, it faced some criticism for its bold portrayal of sexuality, morality and desire.